Gas-producer.



L25L03u ,3 zf zz nesses. 30

E. A. W. JEFFERIES.

GAS PRODUCER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.2,19-t3.

Patented Dec. 25,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET E. A. W. JEFFERIES.

GAS PRODUCER.

APPLlCATlON man Aue.2, 1913. I 1 51,380 Patsntfi Dec. 25,1917.

' I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

j iifozney EBENEZER A. W. JEFFEBIES, OF \VORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 LVIORGAN CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, GF \VORCESTEP, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPOEATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

. '0 (ZZZ whom it may concern:

l le it known that l, Finnxnznn A. \V. Jnrrnnnss, a citizen of the United States, residing at \lorcester, in the county of lVorcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in (his-Producers, of which the following, to gether with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

The construction of the above described eccentric mechanism for mechanically imparting a continuous reciprocating movement to the fuel evener, forms no part of the present invention, and I make no claim for the same.

My invention relates to gas producers and more particularly to an improved form of mechanism for evening or smoothing the exposed surface of the bed of 'fuel in a gas producer, and for agitating the exposed surface of the fuel to prevent the formation of solid masses thereof by fusion and to prcvent the formation of openings in the bed of fuel through which the air and other gases might pass without mixing thoroughly with the fuel.

In the operation of gas producers it is usual to feed the fuel into the producer through a hopper, the fuel naturally forming. a more or less uneven bed upon the grate. In order that the producer may operate as efficiently as possible, however, the

bed of fuel should be of substantially uniform thickness so that the blast of air, or air and steam, which is forced up through the fuel to support combustion, may permeate the fuel thoroughly and uniformly. if the thickness of the bed of fuel is not uniform, the gases rising through it will tend to concentrate more or less at the thinner parts thereof so that tne combustion at GAS-PRODUCER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patentgd Deg, 25 1931'? Application filed August 2, 1913.

Serial No. 782,561.

thus prevented. Another object of the invention, therefore, is to provide mechanism for preventing the formation of such openings through the fuel bed and for. filling them up if any appear.

Another object. of the invention is to provide mechanism for breaking up any masses of fuel or clinkers which might interfere with the thorough and uniform mixture of the fuel and the gases rising through it.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a producer constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. '2 is a sectional view on the line 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a. sectional view on the line 4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of a producer constructed in accordance with a modified form of my invention; Fig. .6 is a view of the controlling mechanism shown in Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a view in elevation, from the plane of line 77, Fig. 1, of the form of shoe employed at each end of the pipe 18.

Like reference characters refer to similar parts in the different figures.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, the producer includes a casing comprising a rotatable fuel section 1 and a stationary section 2, the section 1 being rotated in any suitable manner as by a rack 3 and worm 4. The upper portion of the wall of the section 1 is double to contain a body of water and the lower edge of the wall of the section 2 carries a flange 5 which dips into this body of water to form a water seal between the two sections. The

top of the s ction 2 supports a hopper 6 of any desired type, the one shown including a fuel reservoir 7 with an opening into the producer normally closed by a bell 8. The bell 8 is supported by a link 9 from one end of a lever 10, the other end of the lever carrying a counterweight 11. When fuel is placed in the reservoir 7, its weight overcomes that of the counterweight 11 and causes the bell 8 to descend, thus allowing the fuel to drop into the producer. The counterweight 11 then acts to restore the bell 8 to its normal closed position so as to prevent the escape of gases through the hopper.

Near the edge of the top of the section 2 2 Leanna-e are two hollow diametrically disposed vertical supports 12 and 18, an opening being provided, through the top of the section 2 from the interior of each support to the interior of the producer. These supports 12 and 13 contain the upper ends or" two vertical pipes 14 and 15, the lower ends of which extend downwardly to the position of the fuel bed in the rotatable section 1. The lower ends of these pipes 14. and 15 carry steel shoes 16 and 17 respectively, these shoes being, connected by a horizontal pipe 18. Each of the shoes is hollow to provide communication between the two pipes entering it so that there is a continuous opening through the shoes 16 and 17 and the pipe 18 between. the upper ends of the two pipes 1 1 and 15. The pipes 14: and 15 are each movable vertically in guides- 19 and scraper plates 20. Each of the guides 19 has its inner end bifurcated to engage the adjacent pipe and is adjustable to and from its pipe, being secured in adjusted position in an opening 21 in the side of the producer by a pair of wedges 22 at its opposite sides. The openings 21 permit the insertion of pokers, or inspection of the fuel bed, and are closed when not in use by doors 23. The scraper plates 20 have sharp beveled edges in engagement with the pipes 14 and 15 for the purpose of cleaning scale and other foreign matter from the pipes as they move vertically through the plates and the plates are free to move horizontally in recesses in the bases of the supports 12 and 13 so as to adjust themselves freely to the positions of the pipes.

he construction and arrangement of the mechanisms within the supports 12 and 18 are identical. A description of the mechanism within the support 12 will, therefore, be sufficient, like reference characters being applied, however, to similar parts within both supports. A short vertical pipe 24, inside the support 12 and concentric therewith, surrounds the upper end of the pipe 14. The

annular space between the pipe 24: and the support 12 is open at its upper end, but is closed at its lower end so as to hold a body of water. The annular space between the pipe 24 and the upper end of the pipe 14 is open at both ends so as to permit the passage of any gas that may escape from the producer between the pipe 1st and its scraper plate 20. A pipe 25 has its lower end enlarged and connected to the upper end of the pipe lei, the two pipes 14: and 25 being in vertical alinement. The enlarged lower end of the pipe 25 carries a deep flange 26, the lower end of which dips into the water contained in the annular space between the pipe and the support 12 to form a water seal, thus pre venting any escape of gas from the producer to the upper end of the support 12.

A shaft 27 rotates in bearings at the upper ends of the supports 12 and 13 and carries a pair of pinions 28 in mesh with a pair of racks 29 carried by the two pipes 20. A

. pair of idle rollers 30 pivoted in the supports 12 and 13 bear against the pipes 25 to hold the racks 29 in engagement with the pinions 28. The outer ends of the shaft 27 carry a pair of grooved pulleys 31, to the peripheries of which are attached cords 32 to support counterweight These counterweights tend to rotate the shaft 27 so as to lift upon the shoes 16 and 17 and the pipe 18 and so decrease their pressure upon the exposed surface of the fuel bed. Flexible inlet and outlet pipes 34 and 35 are provided to permit a cooling current of water to be circulated through the pipes 14:, 18 and 15 and the shoes 16 and 17 in order that these pipes and shoes may not become unduly overheated.

In the normal operation of the producer it is intended that the shoes 16 and 17 and the pipe 18 rest yieldingly or float upon the exposed surface of the fuel bed as the fuel'bed and the section 1 are rotated. The pressure of the shoes 16 and 17 and the pipe 18 upon the surface of the fuel bed may be adjusted by varying the weights of the counterweights 33 so that the desired action of the pipe and shoes upon the surface of the bed may be attained. The lower faces of the shoes 16. and 17 slant upwardly toward the approaching fuel so that the shoes may ride over the fuel and smooth it down as the fuel passes under them. As will be seen from Fig. 7 said shoes are substantially elongated in the direction of the approaching and ceding fuel, so that the under. faces thereof oil'er gradually inclined surfaces with which the fuel cooperates in imparting an upward vertical movement to the evener structure. T he outer end faces of the shoes 16 ant lie in vertical planes oblique to the axis of the pipe 18, the vertical edges of these end surfaces nearest the approaching fuel being close to the wall of the rotating section 1 so as to scrape clinkers and scale from the wall as it rotates. These end faces of the shoes diverge from the wall of the rotatable sec tion 1 and in directions away from the approaching fuel so that pieces of the fuel cannot become wedged between the shoes and the wall of the producer. The pipe 18 is preferably round so that its surface in contact with the fuel may ride over and smooth down the fuel in the same mann'er do the slanting lower faces of the shoes. The sec tion 1 of the producer is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow A shown in v Fig. 1.

As the thickness of the fuel bed varies and its exposed surface rises or falls during the operation of the producer, it is clear that the shoes 16 and 17 and the pipe 18 will automatically rise or fall with the surface of the atinas fuel as it rotates, the pressure of the shoes and pipe upon the fuel remaining substantially constant so long as the counterweights 33- remainunchanged. It is sometimes desirable, however, to force the shoes 16 and 17 and the pipe 18 positively toward or away from the bed of fuel. The shaft 27 is, therefore, provided with a pinion 36 and a pair of links 87 pivoted to the shaft on opposite sides of the pinion. A hand lever 88 is pivotally hung from the lower ends of the links 87 and with its upper end close to the periphery of the pinion 36. The upper end of the lever 38 is provided with a pair of integral pawls 39 extending in opposite directions from its pivotal support. By swinging the lever 38 in either direction, one or the other of the pawls 39 will swing into engagement with the pinion 36, further .motion of the lever 38 then serving to rotate the shaft 27 in the desired direction either to raise or lower the shoes 16 and 17 and the pipe 18. When the lever 38 hangs in its normal position as'shown in Fig. 4, the pawls 89 are both out of engagement with the pinion 36 and the lever 38 is, of course, inoperative. The shaft 27 also carries a pinion 40 near one edge of the supports 12 and 13 and holding pawls 41, pivoted to the two supports, serve to engage the pinions 10 to hold the shaft 27 after it has been rotated by the lever 38. These pawls 4:1 may be swung about their pivots to lie along the peripheries of the pinions in either direction so as to cooperate with the lever 38 in rotating the shaft 27 either to raise the pipe 18 or to lower it. Removable pins a2 carried by the supports 12 and 18 hold the pawls 41 out of engagement with the pinions l0 except when it is desired to hold the shaft 27 from rotation, as described.

Under some conditions, during the operationof the producer, the normal action of the shoes 16 and 17 and the pipe 18 upon the fuel, even with very light counterweights 33, may not be sufiicient to produce the desired effect upon the fuel. The shaft 27 is, therefore, provided with a toothed wheel a3, a lever 44 serving to actuate the wheel 48. The upper end of the lever 14 is bifurcated and pivoted to the shaft 27 on opposite sides of the wheel 43 and a removable pin 45, carried in openings in the arms of the bifurcated upper end of the lever 44, engages the wheel 43 to connect it and the lever it rigidly together. The lower end of the lever it is connected with a power driven eccentric i6 by a connectingrod 47. During the normal operation of the pro- (lucer the pin 45 is withdrawn so that the lever H is inoperative, but when it is found that the action of the shoes 16 and 17 and the pipe 18 is not suffi ient to break up or smooth out the surface of the fuel properly, the pin 15 may be placed in position and the eccentric 46 will then reciprocate the shoes 16 and 17 and the pipe 18 positively to and from the fuel bed so as to agitate the surface thereof and pack it down more ef fectively. v

In the modification of the invention shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the producer includes a rotatable section 4-8 and a stationary section 49, the latter section supporting a hopper of any desired type, the one shown being the same as that indicated in Fig. 1. The fuel agitating and evening pipe is U-shaped in form and has the upper ends of its two arms turned outwardly into horizontal alinement and pivoted in bearings 51 in opposite sides of the stationary section 49 of'thc producer. The pipe 50 swings in its bearing 51 so that the lower horizontal portion there of may rest upon the surface of the fuel to agitate it and smooth it out as the fuel is carried under the pipe by the rotation. of the section 48 of the producer. The axis of the bearings 51 may correspond to a diameter of the producer and it is preferably offset slightly from one of the diameters of the producer so that the lower horizontal portion of the pipe 50 may contact with the fuel at or near a diameter of the producer. Flexible inlet and outlet pipes 52 and 53, connected to the opposite ends of the pipe 50, serve to permit a circulation of cooling water through the pipe 50 to prevent undue overheating thereof within the producer. The bearings 51 have hollow recesses 51 in communication with the inlet and outletpipes 55 and 56 to permit them to be water cooled. Secured to one end of the pipe 50 outside the wall of the producer by a clamp 57 is a lever 58 carrying an adjustable weight 59 for regulating the pressure of the lower horizontal portion of the pipe 50 upon the surface of the fuel. A rod 60'connects the lever 58 with a hand wheel. 61 threaded upon the upper end of the rod and supported by a standard 62. By means of this hand wheel. (51 the attendant may prevent the pipe 50 from scraping or digging too deeply into the surface of the fuel.

iVhile l have shown and described the details of certain forms of my invention, 1 do not wish to be limited to such details as changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention; but having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a gas producer, a fuel section, means for feeding fuel thereto during the operation of the producer, a fuel evener within said fuel section, means for supporting said fuel evencr to move vertically as the level of the fuel in said section rises and falls, and means for causing relative rotation between said fuel evcner and said fuel section.

2. In a gas producer, a fuel section, means causing relative for feeding fuel thereto during the operation of the producer, a fuel evener adapted to contact with the surface of the fuel in said fuel section, means for changing the position of said fuel evener to correspond to the level of the fuel in said fuel section, and means for rotation between said evener and said fuel section.

3. in a gas producer, a fuel section, means for feeding fuel thereto during the operation of the producer, a fuel evener Within said fuel section adapted to rest on the surface of the fuel therein, means for supporting said fuel evener to adapt itself to changes 1n the level of said fuel, and means for causing relative rotation between said evener and said fuel section.v

at. Ina gas producer, means for supporting a bed of fuel, means for feeding fuel to said bed during the operation of the producer, a member adapted to lie in contact with the surface of said bed, means for sup-' porting said member to permit its automatic movement in response to changes In the level of said bed, and means for causing relative rotation between said member and the surface of said bed.

In a producer, a fuel section, means for feeding fuel thereto during the operation of the producer, a fuel evener to rest upon the surface of the fuel in the fuel section, means for supporting the evener to move with the surface of the fuel as it rises and falls, and means for causing relative rotation lmtwc n the fuel section of the producer and the evener to cause the evener to move along the surface of the fuel.

(3. in a gas mvnluccna fuel section, means for feeding l'ucl thereto during the operation of the producer, a fuel evener to rest upon the surfacev of the fuel in the fuel section, means for normally supporting the evener to move with the Surface of the fuel as it rises and fa lls, means for causing relative rotation between the fuel section of the producer and the evener to cause the evener to move along the surface of the fuel, and means for positively moving the evener to or from the fuel at will.

y 7. In a gas producer, a fuel section, means for feeding fuel thereto during the operation of the producer, a fuel evener to rest upon the surface of the fuel in the fuel section, means for normally sup 'iorting' thc evener to move with the surface of the fuel as it rises and falls, moans for causingrelative rotation between the fuel section of the producer. and the evener to cause the evener to move along the surface of the fuel, and means for positively reciprocating the evener to and from the fuel at will.

8.. In a gas moducer, a fuel section, a fuel evcncr to rest upon the surface of the fuel in the fuel section, a rack connected to the vener, a shaft carrying a pinion engaging recipes the rack and also carrying a pulley, a cord attached. to the periphery of the pulley and supporting a weight to lift on the evener,

and means for causing relative rotation between the fuel section'of the producer and the evener to cause the evener to move along the surface of the fuel.

9. In a gas producer, a fuel section, a horizontal pipe to rest upon the surface of the fuel in the fuel section, a pair of vertical pipes eXtending above the ends of the horizontal pipe and connected thereto, guides for the vertical pipes, means forsupporting the vertical and horizontal pipes to move freely to and from the fuel as the surface of the fuel rises and falls, and means for causing relative rotation between the fuel section of the producer and the horizontal and vertical pipes to cause the horizontal pipe to move along the surface of the fuel.

10. In a gas producer, a fuel section, a horizontal pipe to rest upon the surface of the fuel in the fuel section, a pair of vertical pipes to support the horizontal pipe, means for supporting the vertical pipes to move to and from the fuel, scrapers to clean the vertical pipes as they move to and from the fuel, and means for; causing relative rotation between the fuel section of the producer and i the pipes to cause the horizontal pipe to move along the surface of the fuel.

11. In a gas producer, a fuel section, a member restingby gravity on the surface of the fuel. in said fuel section, and means for partially counterbalancing the weight of said member.

12. In a gas producer, means for supporting a bed of fuel, fuelcvening means adapted to operate with respect to the surface of said bed,'means for constraining the movement of said fuel evening means in a vertical path, and gravity-actuated means for impartin a lifting force to said fuel evening means.

'13. In a. gas producer, a fuel section, means for feeding fuel; thereto during the operation of the producer, a vertically movable levcling member therein in operative relation to the surface of the fuel in said fuel section, and meansfor rotating said fuel. section, said leveling member prescnting an operative surface inclined upwardly in the direction of the approaching, fuel whereby the movement of the same by the fuel, is facilitated.

l t. in a gas producer, a fuel section, means for feeding fuel thereto during the operation of the producer, and a self-adjusting fuel. cvcncr within said fuel section, the msition of said fuel evener being determined by the level of fuel within said fuel section.

15. in a gas producer, a fuel section, means for feeding fuel thereto during the operation of the producer, a fuel evener sup ported byv the fuel within said fuel section,

and means for causing relative rotation between said evener and the fuel which supports the same.

16. In a gas producer, a fuel section, means for feeding fuel thereto during the operation of the producer, a fuel evener therein, supported by the bed of fuel in said fuel section, means for causing relative rotation between said evener and the bed of supporting fuel, and means for constraining movement of said evener in a vertical path as the surface of said bed rises and falls, said evener presenting 'nclined' fuel contacting surfaces elonga relative movement between said bed and said evener.

17. A gas producer having means for feeding fuel thereto during the operation of Copies of this petent my be obtained for Ive cents each, by addressing the therein. 1n the direction of the producer, an agitator playingfreely vertically and mounted on and carried by the top of the producer and means. causing relative horizontal travel .between the agitator and the coal While gas is being produced Dated this 31st day of July, 1913.

EBENEZER A. W. JEFFERIES. Witnesses:

Burns B. Fownnn,

NELLIE WHALEN.

"commissioner of 2mm,

Weaning-ton, D. 0. 

